The Palisades fire in Los Angeles. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
In the past 24 hours, PSL Los Angeles organizers mobilized with material aid and shelter resources to areas affected by the Eaton and Sunset Fires. We spoke to community residents who had to flee their homes after receiving text notifications with evacuation orders. Our outreach on the ground was able to direct residents to emergency shelters and broadcast their testimonies to the world.
Everywhere we went, we heard the same stories of devastation due to criminal government negligence and a staggering lack of resources for people suffering from a raging climate catastrophe. We immediately put out calls to our community for donations of essential items. Volunteers prepared materials to distribute to residents in need as the blazes continued to grow. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipal utility company in the country, issued a water advisory to select neighborhoods urging residents to boil their water before drinking due to the extraordinary pressure being exerted on the city’s water system.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had absolutely no answers when the press questioned why she chose to cut the Los Angeles Fire Department’s annual budget by $17.6 million. For Los Angeles officials to approve such a reduction for a city historically prone to wildfires is nothing short of criminal negligence. Our communities deserve real leadership that reflects their interests – not one that enables corporations to cancel fire insurance protections just months before residents need it most, nor one that reallocates millions of dollars from critical public services into the massively bloated Los Angeles Police Department budget of $3.37 billion.
Palisades has burnt to the ground. The death toll has risen to five people killed, with many other injured. Homes, schools, and workplaces that were upright and operational on Monday now cease to exist. Wildfires continue to ignite in areas across the County, some farther along in containment than others. The situation is dire: capitalism is engulfing us and our planet is in flames while the lives of poor and working class communities are constantly threatened by cascading crises, injustice, and inequality. In order for us to live, to thrive, and to rebuild, capitalism must end and a socialist system — one that is able to prioritize the health and safety of its people instead of profit and greed — must take its place.
